Blogs

As a ballet lover who watches "Breaking Pointe" for the dancing, my heart sank a little when I heard that the title of last night's season finale was "The Story of Us." A whole episode devoted to offstage love stories? Oh, dear. And I was right to be afraid.

You know a ballet meme is good when it makes you chuckle to yourself and think, "So true." The most recent meme to capture what it's really like to be a ballet dancer is Ballet Monsters, a series of cartoons created by artist Keith Lin that are now circling the internet.

Got Nutcracker auditions coming up? You might want to avoid texting right before you take your place at the barre.

Fascinating new research from Harvard Business School found that people who spent a few minutes typing on a small, handheld gadget were only half as assertive in follow-up tests as those who had typed on a desktop computer. They were also far more meek on an additional test that measured power and self-confidence.

David Hallberg has reached unprecedented heights as an American dancer. His switch from jazz to ballet as a teenager, his promotion to principal dancer at American Ballet Theatre at the age of 23, his status as the first American star at the Bolshoi Ballet—these milestones were the focus of an hour-long interview with Kennedy Center president Michael Kaiser this Saturday.

What does Sir Frederick Ashton's Cinderella look like? Although it's been the focus of the current season of "Breaking Pointe," up until last night's episode, we never actually saw much of the ballet. But we finally got a good dose of stage time this week.

September is National Yoga Month—which means there are lots of ways to find your zen for free over the next few weeks.

The Yoga Health Foundation is offering new students a complimentary week of yoga at more than 2,200 studios around the country. Use their search function to find one in your area, then print out the coupon, which is redeemable anytime in September or October.

Robert Fairchild, we are more than happy to show you our love. The New York City Ballet principal appears in Vanity Fair's October issue with his fiancée, Tiler Peck. There are two gorgeous photographs by Bruce Weber, but our favorite is this one (right), where Fairchild's wearing a shirt that asks, "Show Me Your Love."

Contemporary choreographer Josh Beamish has been all over the ballet news lately thanks to his work as one of four dancer/choreographers in Wendy Whelan's "Restless Creature" project. But he's actually spent the past two years setting movement on a whole gaggle of ballet dancers, including Pacific Northwest Ballet's Carla Körbes and Lindsi Dec, Royal Winnipeg Ballet's Jo-Ann Sundermeier and National Ballet of Canada's Harrison James. These performers are part of MOVE: the company, his troupe of rotating dancers.

Start off the season on a healthy note this fall: Have some trout, one of the healthiest fish you can include in your diet. It's filled with omega-3 fatty acids and protein, and also has low levels of contaminants like mercury. Try this recipefor Baked Trout with Shiitake Mushrooms, Tomatoes and Ginger from National Ballet of Canada principal Sonia Rodriguez.